Buccaneers: QB controversy keyed by play under pressure

Buccaneers: QB controversy keyed by play under pressure

Lovie Smith made a decision before the start of the season to make Josh McCown the team’s starting quarterback, but will he now make the decision to go forward with the second-year quarterback, Mike Glennon? Glennon started his first game of the season last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers and led the Buccaneers on a 4th quarter drive that ended in a game-winning touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson.

Glennon appeared in 13 games during his rookie year, which came with inconsistent results. Specifically, Glennon’s play varied most widely from when he was under pressure to when he was not under pressure. When under pressure he posted a -14.5 with 7 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. When he was not under pressure he achieved a +9.7 with 12 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

In contrast, Josh McCown who appeared in eight games for the Chicago Bears last season, was much more consistent when faced with pressure. McCown posted a +9.5 when both under pressure and without pressure on his 243 dropbacks. However, so far this year McCown has not played up to that standard by netting a -7.7 when under pressure with four interceptions, five sacks, and zero touchdowns. Against the Steelers Glennon didn’t do much when under pressure (just three completions on 13 plays) but didn’t make any mistakes either.

Of course, this year’s sample size is small so far, but Lovie is faced with the decision between a veteran who has displayed consistent play in the recent past but is now struggling and a young player who has been inconsistent throughout his time in the NFL but is currently hot. Either way, the Buccaneers will travel to New Orleans this week where Glennon coincidentally played the second-best game of his career last year (+3.4 overall).